Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  –John 15:13

…..Blessed Paul Giustiniani (regarded as a “second Romuald”) gathered followers about him to withdraw into solitude and silence and to engage in spiritual combat with the world, the flesh, and the devil for the salvation of souls. His reform of the eremitic life in Italy resulted in the formation of the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona…..underlying the Camaldolese hermit’s special call to perfection, a call that belongs to the very essence of the Church’s mission……”under the influence…many people will find the time and place for a desert experience in their lives. They then will not only discover God anew but will also discover the road to another person, to a husband, to a wife, to one another, to the community.”

“the desert (biblically speaking) has always been a shelter for all those sincerely seeking the truth” and who need to find their identity in Christ. “The desert indicates a decision to leave everything that is banal, hollow, and sinful in human existence… The fervent desire for our own conversion and salvation is the first condition of going out into the desert”. It is to “leave the paper world”, to reject the “vulgar illusions that tempt the modern world”, and to be freed from the superficialities of a “McDonald’s civilization”.

…..His penances and sufferings are united with those of Christ and the hermit “follows His Master on the Way of the Cross” for the salvation of souls. In his solitude, however, he is not severed from the temporal concerns of his fellow men; rather he remains vitally concerned with their social concerns and his “way of the desert” does not lead to the negation of authentic values in the world or of other people. The precious “gift of tears” may be vouchsafed him by the Holy Spirit who “allows his eyes to be filled with tears when he becomes aware of the painful lack of love and faith among Christians.”

“Someone who is empty cannot stand up to the emptiness of the desert… Nobody goes to the desert in order to look for prestige, acceptance, success or fame. Such reasons would quickly lead to madness or demonic possession”.

The Camaldolese vocation is rather for the psychologically balanced, for those who seek union with God, the “Absolute Presence”, and are “fascinated with the Lord’s beauty, which becomes perceivable and clear only for a heart transformed by the power of grace”. There are some wise cautions regarding the temptation to seek “the land of pure spirituality”. The hermit is not a gnostic…..

“Catholic mysticism has never meant contemplating one’s own self… The hermit does not try to use any mystical techniques of breathing, mantras, visualizations, or the tantra… When the hermit wants to pray, he does not follow any specific procedures such as taking certain body positions, regulating his breath, or purging his mind. His method of prayer is not to have any method at all. He closes the door of his cell and begs God for the gift of the Word and the Spirit that would enable him to perceive in faith the merciful and simple presence of the Father.”  A Camaldolese 

We should not only avoid idle talk [leading to] much laughter, as St Benedict says, but we are also invited to avoid noisy behavior. Our constitution mentions noisy manual work, disturbances during liturgical celebrations, and during the time of rest. Our constitution recommends silence in the church…”Indiscrete turning of the pages, coughing and impolite yawning should be avoided.”

There are many ways of making noise. In my experience, I remember two brothers who left the motor of the tractor running outside of the door of the garage. Sometimes this kind of noise lasted for more than a half hour without reason. Others slam doors, Abbot Delatte, in his commentary on St Benedict’s Rule, tells us that “a nun of the Visitation order asked St Francis de Sales what she should do to reach perfection. The holy bishop, who doubtless know whom he was addressing replied: ‘Sister, I think Our Lord wants you to close doors quietly.’”

Let us try to avoid all unnecessary noise, all impatient and distracting movements in whatever we do.

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“Jesus autem tacebat.” “But Jesus was silent.” Jesus was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. There He was falsely accused. St Matthew says: “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they might pass the death sentence.” How did our Lord answer His accusers? St Matthew tells us: “Jesus was silent.”

May the silence of Jesus be our example and our inspiration. Let us follow the silent Master of whom Isaiah foretold: “harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughterhouse, never opening its mouth.” –Silence: A Series of Conferences Given by a Camaldolese Hermit

In our thirteen preceding conferences we tried to bring order to our interior faculties and to our intellect itself. We spoke about our external senses, which are, as it were, five doors leading to our soul. We spoke of the memory and our imagination, the interior senses, which can be a help to our intellect but can also become a great obstacle. All the mentioned faculties must be brought to the right order. A silence should be imposed on deviations and care should be taken that they do not become a hindrance or an obstacle in our spiritual life. Our intellect also must submit to Christian ascesis and discipline. It must be illuminated by faith. Let us also remember that from our intellect to our will, a long road is often the division. A Latin poet—Ovid expressed what I’m saying in the following verse: “Video Meliora, proboque, deteriora sequor.” It means: I see better things and approve them, but I follow the less good ones (or the worst, if you wish).

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Perfect silence in ourselves is the fruit of many sacrifices, of a long period of suffering, and of many tears and prayers.

Perfect silence is the sign of the final victory of Christ’s power in our life. It is a great interior silence to which we are called—a silence filled with God.  –Silence: A series of Conferences Given by a Camaldolese Hermit.

Silence: A Series of Conferences Given by a Camaldolese Hermit

1. Forget past sins. (Growth, acceptance, silence within self-awareness)
2. Ease thinking of past injuries. (Maturity, reception, silence within aging)
3. Remember benefits from God.
4. Consider motives for Christian hope. (Eternal life)

Remember benefits received from God, recommends Father Aumann in his Spiritual Theology.  The recollection of the immense benefits we have received from God, of the times He has pardoned our faults, of the dangers from which He has preserved us, of the loving care He has exercised over us, is an excellent means of arousing our gratitude toward Him and the desire of corresponding more faithfully with His graces.  And if to this we add the remembrance of our disobedience and rebellion, of our ingratitude and resistance to grace, our soul will be filled with humility and confusion.  We will experience the need for redoubling vigilance and efforts to be better in the future.  As we can see, we should not remember our past sins with all their details, still less nourish our memory with the dalliance of our imagination (fantasizing).  It will only expose new temptations and thus new sins.  But we should have a deep interior compunction for all sins we ever committed.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that we will grow in the spiritual life in proportion to our compunction of heart.  We pray in Psalm 50, “A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.” (Compunction: feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.)

Speaking about memory Father Aumann invites us to consider motives for Christian hope. It is one of the most efficacious means for directing our memory to God and for purifying it of contact with earthly things.  St John of the Cross makes our memory the seat of Christian hope.  The saint declares growth in the theological virtue of hope effectively purges the memory.  The remembrance of an eternity of happiness, which is the central object of Christian hope, is most apt for making us disdain the things of earth and causing us to raise our spirits to God.

In conclusion of what has been said today, I would like to repeat that our memory is a precious gift from our God and should serve for a good purpose.  It should help us to become good Christians and to grow in the spiritual life.  If our memory does not help us to come closer to God, but rather makes it more difficult, our memory needs purification.  Many things should be brought to absolute silence.  There exist an active and passive purification of our senses and our spirit.  God has His own way of purifying our senses and our minds.  He permits dryness and deprives us of all consolation.  He permits great temptations against faith, hope, and charity; also, against patience and peace of soul.  Little by little, we become detached from ourselves and from earthly pleasures, and come closer to God and are ready for higher contemplation.  Please God that we may be strong, generous, and patient during God’s work of purification in ourselves.  Please God that we enjoy, with His help, perfect silence in all our senses, both internal and external, but also in our intellectual faculties.  Bring to silence all that is not from God or conducive to God.  Then we will be ready for greater union with Christ, for greater contemplation, and love of God.  Amen.

Father Aumann, in ‘Spiritual Theology‘ continues: “There are two principal obstacles caused an uncontrolled imagination: dissipation and temptation.  Without recollection an interior life and a life of prayer are impossible, and there is nothing that so impedes recollection as the inconstancy and dissipation of the imagination.  Freed of any restraints, it paints in vivid colors the pleasure sin provides for the concupiscible appetite or exaggerates the difficulty the irascible appetite will encounter on the road of virtue, thus leading to discouragement.  But the difficulties can be avoided if we use the proper means.”

Father Aumann enumerates four means to avoid the above mentioned dangers of seeking illicit pleasure and of discouragement.  What are these beneficial means?

1. Custody of the external senses.
2. Prudent selection of reading material (entertainment: internet, films, music, socializing).
3. Attention to the duty of the moment.
4. Indifference to distractions

Silence: A Series of Conferences Given by a Camaldolese Hermit

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